Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for data processing, and more particularly to methods and systems that can analyze and manage data for social networks.
Description of the Related Art
With the advanced development of devices with network connectivity capabilities and networks, more and more network-related services and applications have been developed. For example, social network systems can be set up based on networks, so that on-line communities can be created for users. Social network systems provide an environment and an interface for users to connect, communicate, and interact with each other via networks. For example, users can share personal thoughts, statuses, photos, life events, and other information. Furthermore, users' friends can share or comment on the posted information.
Along with explosive growth of on-line users, a large amount of various information is generated within the social network systems. The information may be valuable or it may be completely trivial to the various users. However, over time the useless information will become a heavy burden for systems if no effective data analysis and management mechanism is provided. Consequently, managing and performing related analysis for the big data has become a pressing issue for the social network industry.
Furthermore, most applications of data analysis are limited to the data related to the registered users of the social network systems. For example, the data analysis in the social network systems is expected to explore the potential requirements of users according to the data posted by the users themselves, and provide related services or products to those users. In other words, the application of data analysis can provide additional services for existing users of the social network systems. However, the prior art cannot perform any operation when the data consists of information related to third parties who have not registered in the social network systems. In other words, there exists a great opportunity to expand the value of information within social networks to users outside those networks.